Poetry, short stories, and a few other things on my mind.

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The Pirates of Hardwood

Chapter Three

The weekend came too quickly . Rusty and Sarah were already at the pier Saturday around noon, preparing his father’s miniature yacht for their overnight venture out to sea. Darrick was running late, as usual. He had always been the kind of person to show up late, even for things he planned. Sarah’s good friend, Sam, was late as well, but Sarah knew she wouldn’t bail on her.

Rusty was loading up the last cooler with beer and sodas for their trip. He made sure the boat was fueled up and ready to go and that the small refrigerator in the cabin was stocked full of food for their meals. Sarah was locking up their dark green SUV when a white pickup pulled into the parking space next to it. She rolled her eyes as Darrick climbed out of the drivers’ seat. He walked around to the back of the truck and grabbed a small, blue cooler filled with more beer and a few snacks he couldn’t live without, chocolate bars and peanut butter. He also grabbed a small overnight bag with a spare change of clothes and his swim trunks.

“Is your friend here yet?” he asked, after slamming the tailgate closed on his truck.

Sarah shook her head and walked with him to the dock where Rusty was waiting, “Not yet, but she’ll be here. She’s not the kind of person to ditch me at the last minute, even when a guy like you is involved.”

“That’s not very nice, Sarah. I’m always a gentlemen when meeting new ladies.” Darrick said with a sly smile.

“I don’t believe that for a second.”

Darrick picks up the pace and rushes to get onboard with Rusty. He takes the cooler down to the living quarters and stacks it on top of the other cooler. He turns around and stares at the tiny space. There are only two cots set up as bunk beds and they are barely big enough for one person. Rusty’s father mainly uses the boat for fishing but it is big enough to host a small party whenever Rusty feels the need to do so. Darrick stared at the small mattresses and was already coming up with a different place to sleep. There was not a chance he would share that small of a bed with a girl he didn’t know.

He set his overnight bag by the beds and walked back up the short flight of stairs to the deck. Rusty was standing behind the wheel, making sure everything was good to go. Sarah was standing by his side, her left hand rubbing his shoulder as she nuzzled against him. To Darrick’s left was the ocean that went on for miles. He’d spend many a night watching the sunset from the pier with a different girl each time. To his right was the dock and he walked to the railing and stared downward.

A dark blue sports car was parked in the space beside his truck. He’s never seen it before but he loved the look of the car. The paint was sparkling in the sunlight and the windows were all tinted dark. A young woman with wavy brown hair, wearing jeans and a red t-shirt, was walking up the dock. She had a duffel bag hanging over her shoulder and a pair of Aviator sunglasses covering her eyes. She was gorgeous and Darrick couldn’t help but check her out as she climbed aboard the small yacht.

“Sam!” Sarah shouted and ran to greet her friend with a tight embrace. “I was wondering when you’d get here.”

“Well,” Sam spoke through a mouthful of Sarah’s hair, “you know I’m not a fan of sailing or anything, but I couldn’t just leave you alone with two guys. Who knows what the hell would happen.”

Sarah pulled herself away from her and turned toward Darrick, “Sam this is Rusty’s best friend Darrick. He’s the guy I was telling you about.”

Sam looked Darrick up and down, relieved to see that he was good looking and not what she was expecting to see, “Nice to meet you.”

Darrick smiled and said, “Same here. You don’t look like the type of girl Sarah would hang out with.”

Sam shrugged, “That’s only because I’m awesome.”

She strolled away from him and headed below deck with Sarah. Rusty immediately started the engine, now that everyone was onboard and ready to go. He didn’t bother waiting to check with them first, before he untied the boat and head out for sea.